4 February 2025

On January 27, 2025, MMD Member, MEP Tilly Metz, hosted an event to mark the launch of her policy white paper, “Making Access to Quality Healthcare a Top Priority for the EU”. The event brought together MEP Adam Jarubas (Chair of the SANT Committee), MEP Vlad Voiculescu (S&D Coordinator of the SANT Committee), MEP Nicolás González Casares (SANT Committee) as well as key health stakeholders from civil society.

Her white paper represents a bold call to action for policymakers, calling for a fundamental shift in the way health is considered and healthcare policies developed. MEP Tilly Metz highlights several critical bottlenecks caused by healthcare workforce shortages and the current functioning of the medicines market, including, for example, medicines prices, the heavy dependence on foreign suppliers and the EU property framework, all of which are undermining the efficiency and resilience of our health systems. This paper is a call to policymakers and health stakeholders to ensure accessible healthcare for all, aiming to reduce the stark inequalities that persist within the EU and across Europe more broadly.

The policy paper advocates for a paradigm shift, with health being recognised as a public good rather than merely an economic activity. It also places strong emphasis on the urgent need to adopt a One Health approach, fostering stronger links between climate and health policies to effectively address the impact of climate change on human health.

One of MEP Tilly Metz’s key messages is that health policies should be driven by public health priorities and unmet medical needs and she calls on the EU to drive the agenda for research and development of new medicines in line with current health priorities and unmet medical needs. With around 32 million people living with diabetes (PwD) in Europe, of whom one third remain undiagnosed, and half do not meet their treatment targets and are at risk of life-altering complications, diabetes is a major public health challenge, with many remaining unmet needs.

We wish to congratulate our esteemed MMD Member, MEP Tilly Metz, for her innovative white policy paper and successful launch event.